In August of 1914, when World War I broke out in Europe, Maurice Ravel
was bitterly disappointed to learn that he was unfit for military
service. He compensated by volunteering to care for the wounded, but
did not give up his composing. One of the pieces he worked on during
that period was a planned French Suite--written not on
patriotic themes, but simply as a collection of French-flavored
movements. The Suite eventually fell by the wayside, however, and was
forgotten for over two years.

In the summer of 1917, Ravel repaired to Normandy in hopes of
restoring his failing health and recovering from the loss of his
mother, who had died the previous January. While there, he returned
to the French Suite. In honor of the fallen soldiers he had
cared for, he retitled it Le Tombeau de Couperin (literally,
Couperin's Tomb, after François Couperin, a 17th-century
composer whom Ravel chose to represent the French nation.

The work was planned to be premiered immediately in Paris, but a
bombardment interfered and caused the performance to be postponed.
While he was waiting for it to be rescheduled, Ravel could not resist
orchestrating four of the movements (he once said ``For me,
orchestration is more play than work'').

When the piano piece was finally presented to the public, it was a
great success despite the inevitable naysayer, a clever critic who
wrote, `` Couperin's Tomb by Monsieur Ravel, that's nice. But
how much nicer would be Ravel's Tomb by Couperin!'' Like
M. Ravel, we will leave it to the audience to decide between the
critic and his target, with full confidence as to the outcome.